“I had no intention to—and functionally speaking did not—benefit
from the content of the questions in any way,” Watkins said. “A
website containing question content was loaded. At no
point did I read the questions therein.”

He declined to elaborate on his motivations for accessing the
page, and would not say why he opened it repeatedly before
important games.

NAQT asserts
that Watkins exploited a security loophole to view
game questions online in the time immediately prior
to tournaments.

“It was clearly marked, and anyone who plays Quiz Bowl would
know, 'Oh, I’m going to play on those questions, I need to stop
looking immediately,’' NAQT President Robert Hentzel
said.

"I regret my breaches of question security. I am gratified that
NAQT acknowledges that there is neither direct nor statistical
evidence that I took advantage of my access; though I know
everyone will make their own judgments, I did compete in good
faith. ...

My immaturity damaged my much-prized relationship with NAQT and
cast undue doubt on three remarkable accomplishments by three
Harvard teams. ... I apologize to my teammates, to NAQT, and to
the community for how my actions sullied three amazing years of
competition.

Suspicious about Watkins'
otherworldly play raised questions in the minds of fellow
players even before the titles were stripped.

“He just did so astoundingly well against some of the greatest
science players of all time, beating them in their specialty
categories over and over again,” Andrew Hart, a law school
student who played on the University of Minnesota team that
Harvard beat in the 2011 championship game, told the Crimson. “I
think people were suspicious.”

The Crimson notes that Watkins ultimately understands the
stripping of the titles.

“There’s no question that it was not a wise decision,” said
Watkins, who now studies chemistry at New York
University. “With better foresight, hindsight, what
have you, I wouldn’t have done it.”